Separation Anxiety
by Monker
Summary: Clarisse and Joseph have to deal with being away from each other for an entire month while they are each being tested by their own separate frustrations. C&J story, full summary inside.
1. Welcoming June

**Title:** Separation Anxiety

**Author:** Monker

**Genre: **Romance/general

**Rating:** PG

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Princess Diaries or its characters. I'm only borrowing them for a short time so I can use them in this story. I don't get paid for this work of fiction…unless of course you consider reviews…which I happen to find very rewarding indeed (hint, hint; wink, wink; nudge, nudge)!!

**Summery:** This is a C&J story that takes place a year after the first film during one of Mia's summertime visits to Genovia. Joseph takes a group of his men on a month long getaway for some extra security training. Clarisse and Joseph have to deal with being away from each other for an entire month while they are each being tested by their own separate frustrations.

**Author's Note:** It's sort of been a while since I've written anything for the Princess Diaries fan fiction world. But recently my friend (and yours) Annette-Rose began writing a new story ("Sacrifices"…I highly recommend it. Only three chapters in and I love it already) and reading it has inspired me to once again try my hand at another C&J story. I don't think this one will be as long as some of my other stories, but I wanted to write it out anyway. I hope you enjoy it and I welcome you to leave a review if you'd like.

Ok…deep breath in…deep breath out…here we go!

* * *

"Your Majesty, here are the forms you asked for," Charlotte said as she entered the Queen's office, "and I took the liberty of ordering some tea for you and the Princess. Olivia should be bringing it up shortly."

"Thank you, Charlotte," said the Queen with a genuine smile at her assistant's thoughtfulness. Clarisse took the papers from Charlotte and began reading through them.

Mia poked her head over the back of the large couch and smiled at her friend, "Yeah, thanks Charlotte!" she said before falling back onto the soft cushions.

Charlotte walked around the couch and the Princess moved her legs so Charlotte could sit. "What are you reading?" asked Charlotte.

"_The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_ by C.S. Lewis," Mia said while holding up the book so Charlotte could see the cover. "I was one of those freaky kids who read nonstop. So I grew up reading stuff like the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia, you know…fantasy type stuff. But the Narnia books were always my favorite; and out of all seven books, the Dawn Treader was always my favorite. But I hadn't read it since I was 12 or so. Then I realized Grandma kept a set of the books on her bookshelf over there so I just started reading."

"Your Majesty, I never realized you kept those books in here. I didn't even know you read them," stated Charlotte, glancing back at the Queen's desk as Clarisse continued to read over those forms.

"I love those books; of course I have been reading them a lot longer than Mia. As a matter of fact…Rupert and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Lewis once," Clarisse said without even looking up from the papers.

"What?" Mia shouted, sitting up into a kneeling position and resting her elbows on the back of the couch, "You never told me you met C.S. Lewis! When did this happen?"

Clarisse looked up at her granddaughter, and then she looked up towards the ceiling and sighed. "Oh, let's see…" she said, taking off her glasses and thinking, "That would have been the…summer of '58. I was quite young still; only in my early 20's I should think. Rupert and I had only been married a few years. Anyway, the man was visiting Genovia; Rupert and I heard he was in the country and invited him over for dinner."

"That is so cool," said the excited Princess, "What was he like?"

"Oh, quite charming indeed. Nice old world manners, sharp wit about him as well."

Mia snorted and slumped back into her original position, "Leave it to grandma to be vague. She met one of the greatest writers in history and all she remembers about the man is his manners!"

Charlotte chuckled along with Mia as the Queen began to protest, "I said he was witty, didn't I?" When the two other women in the room didn't curtail their snickers Clarisse gave a simple, "Oh…tush!" and got back to her reading. When Clarisse reached the last of the twelve pages she signed her name at the bottom and then laid her pen next to the document.

Just then, Olivia arrived with the tea. "Where shall I put this, your Majesty?" asked Olivia.

"Right over there will be fine," Clarisse said, standing and pointing to the sitting area where Mia and Charlotte were currently located. "And Olivia? Would you be so kind as to bring up two more cups as well?"

"Of course your Majesty, right away." Olivia delivered the tray to Charlotte and then turned to exit the room.

"Thank you," said Clarisse.

"Why the extra cups, Grandma?" Mia asked once Olivia had left.

Clarisse joined the other women in the sitting area and began to prepare her cup, "I thought Charlotte and Joseph might like to join us, Mia."

"Oh, I'd love to, your Majesty. But I don't think Joe will be able to join," said Charlotte.

"Oh? Why not?"

"He's packing right now for his trip to Aberdeen. It's almost June, remember?"

"Oh, yes of course. I had forgotten," the Queen said, nodding her head.

"Aberdeen? Isn't that in Scotland? Why is Joe going there?" Mia asked as she too began pouring some tea.

"Every other year—around this time—Joe takes a group of his men to a security training camp in Aberdeen. They're there for a month, doing training drills and workouts and things like that," explained Charlotte.

"The Palace is without security for a whole month?" Mia asked surprised.

"Oh heavens no!" said Clarisse, "Joseph only takes about twenty men or so. And Scott—or 'Shades' as you call him—stays behind to act as Head of Security in Joseph's absence. The palace remains quite safe while they're gone."

"Oh."

"At any rate, with the exception of a few appearances that must be made, June is a relatively slow month for us all. I think that's why Joseph always schedules his trips during this part of the year," Clarisse said as she sipped calmly on her tea.

"Speaking of," said Mia as she turned to look at Charlotte, "Exactly how many 'appearances' do we have this month?"

"Three definites and one maybe," was Charlotte's automatic response.

Then the two younger women began to talk about the various outings and some ideas as to what they should do during the spare time the month allowed. Clarisse was grateful for the change of subject and only half listened as the others talked on. Joseph's semiannual trip had completely slipped her mind this year and she didn't care much to be reminded of it. She strongly disliked June because of this trip. She would never say a word about it to anyone, but she truly hated the idea of being separated from Joseph for an entire month. They were still able to talk to each other on the phone, and they were faithful to write to one another during the month, but a couple letters and a few twenty minute phone calls hardly made up for the constant physical absence that lasted all through the month.

She loathed the trip so much she actually had the audacity to ask Joseph to veto the usual retreat one year. His response was something like, "But darling, it's trips like these that keep my men in top physical and mental condition so they can protect you best when it's needed. If it's a contest between your safety and my pleasure, I'm going to choose your safety every time. Besides, it's only a month."

'_Only a month'_ Clarisse thought inwardly, _'Simple enough for him to say. I, however, am stuck here for an entire month without anything to do!' _Clarisse sighed to herself. She was being childish. She knew that the separation was just as hard on Joseph as it was on her. Actually, come to think of it, it was probably a lot harder on him because he'd be doing draining drills and workouts the whole time. At any rate, she was not looking forward to the impending month at all.

* * *

Well, there's the first chapter. I'm sorry it's a bit short. The next one will be a bit longer, I promise.

**Author's Note: **I'm a huge Narnia fan, I've grown up reading those books or having them read to me. So the opening scene to this chapter was all just sheer delight for me. I usually try to leave my own opinions or preferences out of my characterizations because I want to be writing a story about my characters and not about me. But this time I disregarded my own little rule and made both Mia and Clarisse fans of the series. The Dawn Treader is my favorite of the seven books...and now I guess it's Mia's favorite too! lol!

Please review if you'd like. I'm not sure if this story will really take off so I'd like to have your input on the matter. Let me know what you think, what you liked and didn't like.

Thanks always!

Monker


	2. Last night home

**Author's Note:** I wan't to thank you all so much for your reviews. I was amazed when I checked this story and found over ten reviews for a single chapter, and such a short one at that! You guys have truly blessed me and I'm grateful for your constant support. I've missed writting for you all so this story should be fun. I haven't really thought out this story very well. I'm basically making it up as I go along so ideas are always appreciated. If you can think of a good scene to add or a nice piece of dialogue then feel free to Private Message me or include it in a review or somthing, I'd love to hear from you! Thus I conclude my little commercial. ON TO THE CHAPTER!

Deep breath in...deep breath out...here we go!

* * *

Shirts, check  
Shirts, check.  
Pants/shorts, check.  
Boxers/socks, check.  
Pajamas, check.  
Boots/tennis shoes, check.

Joseph double checked each item on his list to make sure he had everything. He counted the number of articles that were in each pile and then placed them in his suitcase. The campground at Aberdeen had a free laundry room so he actually only needed clothes for a week or so. Once all of his clothes were stacked neatly inside the suitcase, Joseph went into his bathroom and gathered his toiletries. He put his toothbrush, razor, comb, deodorant and cologne in a smaller bag and placed it inside the large suitcase.

"Let's see, what else," Joseph said as he stared down at the contents of his suitcase.

He stood in his boxers and a black undershirt with his hands on his hips as he contemplated what else he would need to bring.

"Ahha!" said Joseph as he snapped his fingers and turned to his nightstand. He opened the drawer and retrieved his CZ 75B pistol and some extra ammunition. Then went to his wardrobe and got out his shoulder holster. He took both items and put them in their carrying case and stuck that in the suitcase. After adding a few more things to it, he closed the suitcase and zipped it up.

"Oh yeah!" he said, throwing his hands triumphantly into the air. "Everything I need for a whole month in one suitcase. I'm good!" Joseph turned to look at the only other living thing in the room. Duke, his chocolate Labrador, didn't seem amused. The dog just perked his ears up a little but didn't rise from his laying position on his bed in the corner of the room.

Joseph waved his hand at the dog, "Who needs you? You obviously don't recognize real talent when you see it."

Duke just sighed and Joseph chuckled before looking at his watch. "Uhho, it's almost ten. I better hurry if I don't want to be late." Joseph finished packing by throwing his mp3 player, passport, and some books into a small carry-on bag and then threw on his navy-blue robe and left his apartment. He glanced again at his watch, it was 10:04. He practically power walked down the last two hallways before reaching his destination.

He stopped at the doorway and peered into the kitchen as he panted softly from the rush. She was sitting at the table with her back to the door but she obviously heard him approach because she turned her head slightly and said, "You're late."

He nodded and walked fully into the room, "That's true, I'm sorry. I was packing and lost track of the time." He walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. He leaned in and touched her cheek with a small kiss before passing her and going to the pantry. "What would you like tonight, my dear?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know; something light. Some fruit maybe?" Clarisse said, obviously forgiving him for his tardiness.

Upon hearing that request, Joseph altered his course and headed for the refrigerator. He soon found some apples and began preparing them. As he was slicing them into small wedges he looked up at Clarisse. She was staring off into space and playing with the hair behind her left ear. He loved it when she did that; he always thought it was adorable.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked.

She seemed to snap out of her contemplative state and soon her limpid blue eyes were looking up at him, "Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about the things that need to be done this month."

"In other words, you going to miss me bad," he said with a cheeky grin as he kept cutting the apples.

She glared at him, "That's not what I said."

"But it's what you meant."

"How do you know what I meant?"

"Because I heard what you said," he winked at her. Before she could respond he said, "El merienda se sirve, mi querida."

"Ahh, good," Clarisse said, standing up from her place at the table. "Let's eat out on the terrace, it's such a lovely night tonight. Could we?"

He looked out the glass door leading to the outside. "I don't see why not," he said.

They were soon positioned on one of the nice pieces of patio furniture, a cushioned loveseat that was able to rock back and forth. He was holding the plate of apple slices in his lap while Clarisse was leaning up against him with her feet tucked up next to her on the seat. They shared the apples the silence while Joseph calmly rocked them back and forth with his foot. Clarisse was right, it was a beautiful night. The moon was half full and cast a blue glow on everything below it. There was a swarm of fireflies that were blinking their familiar display of lighting and fading yellow glows all across the palace grounds. And the only sounds to be heard were that of the water fountain in the gardens off in the distance and the sound of the crickets chirping their own love songs in the breeze of the night. It was a perfect night. And Clarisse and Joseph simply enjoyed it silently.

Soon the apples were all gone and Joseph carefully reached down and set the plate on the stone floor beneath them. Joseph knew of four "blind spots" the palace security cameras had on the exterior of the palace (there were many more inside the palace because of closets and the like), and this small clump of patio furniture happened to be in one of those blind spots. Knowing this, Joseph brought his now free hand up to wrap fully around Clarisse and began rubbing from her elbow to her shoulder and back again in a soothing rhythm. She responded by snuggling closer into his side. They weren't usually this physical with each other. Usually they were both very respectful towards the other's boundaries, neither one wanting to push anything or increase temptation. But tonight was special, so they both wordlessly agreed that this innocent contact was allowed.

He sighed a content sigh before saying, "I'm really going to miss you, you know?"

"I know, I'm going to miss you terribly too. You know what you _could_ do that would save us both a month of torment…" she said pointedly.

He sighed again, but this time it was more of a frustrated sigh. "Clarisse," he said, "I can't cancel I whole trip that my men are really looking forward to just because I don't want to leave my girlfriend for a month."

His comment made her blush; fortunately for her, it was dark and he didn't notice. Their…relationship…was not exactly a new concept; but it was still very secretive. So neither of them had ever come out and just said that they were dating. Although they had inwardly declared themselves an item, neither had ever taken the step to actually declare it outwardly as Joseph had just done.

"Yes, I know you're right. It wouldn't be fair to the men. And besides, I know how much you actually enjoy it once you get there," Clarisse smiled up at him.

Joseph smiled back, "Yeah, once we actually get into the swing of things, it's a lot of fun. And I think it helps the men gain a better understanding of me. I get a lot of extra one-on-one time with them during the free times and meals, so it helps them learn to see me more as friend instead of strictly a boss. We have two new boys on the team and as of right now…I think they're afraid of me. Hopefully this time together will show them that I'm a regular man."

Clarisse smiled. It was a pity that so many of the people in the palace, including some of the security team, thought that Joseph was so cruel. Clarisse was one of the lucky few who got to see Joseph's more human side on a regular basis. Because of his strict security standards and his impassible attitude during work hours, Joseph, in the eyes of most members of the palace staff, had gained a rather unfair reputation of being a bit of a monster.

"Why is that, Joseph?" Clarisse asked, sitting up from her cuddling position to see Joseph's face.

Joseph let go of his girl and let his arms fall back on his lap, "Why is what?" he asked.

"Why do your men have such a strict view of you?"

Joseph gave his thoughtful look, the one where he sticks out his lower lip a little and tilts his head to the side slightly; that was one of Clarisse's three favorite looks that Joseph gave.

"Well," he said, "my men only ever see me in my leadership role. It helps maintain the right level of respect that the job demands. So it's better if they don't see me in my playful and carefree state as much."

Clarisse eyed him with a grin, "Joseph," she said, "You never have a carefree state. Even when you _are_ playful, you're never carefree."

Joseph chuckled, "That's true I guess. But you know what I mean."

"But what I don't understand is _why_ you don't let them see your playful side."

Joseph breathed in as though he was about to give an answer but suddenly stopped and changed his reply. "Why don't you let Genovia see _your_ playful side?"

Clarisse was initially caught off guard by the retort while Joseph eyed her beneath a cocked eyebrow, but she soon responded with a concurring, "Touché"

He smiled at her and tucked a stray strand of hair back behind her ear.

"I think I understand you better now," Clarisse said, closing her eyes as Joseph placed a kiss on her forehead, "I suppose there's some depth to the both of us that the rest of the world would never expect."

Joseph grabbed the sides of her face as he lightly kissed the bridge of her nose. He grinned as he said, "Just think of their reaction if they could see us right now."

"Oh, Joseph, don't talk about that!" Clarisse whispered.

Joseph chuckled before leaning in and kissing Clarisse. She let herself lean into the kiss, knowing that it would probably be the last one for a while. They had shared kisses before, but this one far surpassed all those which preceded it. He was being more bold and she was being more willing. She rewarded his efforts with several soft and thoroughly feminine sounds which only made him kiss her more firmly. They took their time with the kiss because both knew that it would have to last them a month. Several moments later they pulled apart and rested their foreheads against each other's.

Joseph opened his eyes and watched Clarisse until she in turn opened hers. He breathed a laughing sigh and leaned in once more to her forehead. "Come, my love," he said, rising to his feet, "It's late and a good night's sleep will do us both some good."

He helped her to her feet after she bent over and picked up the now empty plate from the floor and the two of them headed back into the palace. After walking Clarisse back to her rooms, Joseph placed a lingering kiss on her hand.

"Don't push your men, _or_ yourself too hard. And be safe," Clarisse said, giving his cheek a soft stroke.

"I'll do my best, Clarisse. And remember, June is practically your month off. Get all of her Majesty's duties out of the way, and then give the rest of the month to Clarisse. And have fun!"

He gave her a wink and she smiled back at him. Then he returned back to his own apartment, walked in to his bedroom, shed his robe, and flung himself onto his bed. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying to relive every second of the past two hours. He wanted to convert those last few moments with Clarisse to memory, especially that kiss.

"Oh, Duke!" Joseph sighed, rolling over and propping himself up on one elbow to look at the dog.

The chocolate lab had barely moved since his master had left the room those few hours ago. Duke lifted his head from his dog bed and gave Joe his full attention.

"Am I mad to leave that woman?"

The only response the dog gave was a tilt of his head to the side as though he found Joe's distress to be extremely curious.

Joseph sighed and threw himself back onto his bed. He grabbed his pillow and held it at arm's length directly above his face. He dropped the pillow and let his arms fall straight out to either side of him. From beneath the pillow, Joseph's muffled voice was heard saying, "This is going to be a long month."

* * *

I hope you guys are enjoying it so far, please review and let me know what you think! I love to hear from you guys, the reviews are what keep me going!

**Author's Note:** By the way, I like to incorporate a bit of Joseph's Puerto Rican heritage in his character so I try to add in some Spanish every now and then to my chapters. In case some of you don't speak Spanish or didn't feel like looking it up, the Spanish used in this chapter can be translated to mean, "The snack is served, my darling." Just FYI.


	3. Riddle me this

Okay, I'm really sorry for the long wait. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up the pace a bit and update faster.

**Author's Note:** I'm going to be bringing back a lot of old characters from past stories I've written in this fic. So ten points for each name you recognize and an extra fifty points if you can name the story they were from! lol. And at the end of the story you can turn your points in for a special prize!!

Deep breath in…deep breath out…here we go!

* * *

"If he's not out in five minutes, I vote we go without him," said Dominic as he waited impatiently with the others in the white fifteen-passenger van.

"He said he'd only be a minute," Joe said from the driver's seat.

Sinatra spoke up from the back seat, "Yeah, but that was five minutes ago." Sinatra checked his watch again. "Six," he corrected.

"Let's just go," said Dominic again, "He can catch the next trip."

Joe gave a scoffing laugh as he eyed his men through the rearview mirror, "I'm not leaving without him, gentlemen! So you can give your whining a rest."

"You said we had to be on the road at 6:00," Jerry said looking at his watch, "It's 6:10 now. If I knew that we were just going to be sitting here then I could have slept for an extra ten minutes."

"Yeah!" came the chorus from the sleepy security members in the van.

"I can't believe this," Joe said to himself, rolling his eyes, "You men are a bunch of pansies. You'll have to get over that real fast if you're going to last a _day_ at this camp!"

"There he is," Jake said pointing out the van's opened door.

Joe turned and watched as Dean descended the steps outside the Palace's main entrance. The cranky men behind Joe gave a weak cheer as they watched their delaying companion approach the van. Dean climbed in the front seat next to Joe, setting his small backpack on the floor in front of the seat.

"Sorry for the hold up fellas. I forgot something I had to do."

"That's okay, we didn't mind. But Joe here was about to drive off and leave you," Dominic said reaching up in front of him and patting Joe's bald head.

Joe gave Dominic's hand a quick slap and the younger man yanked his hand away with a laugh. Joe turned to look at Jake and said, "Close the door. We're moving out."

Joe made record time on the drive from the palace to the airport in Libit. The ten minutes they lost while waiting on the palace grounds were earned back by a few shortcuts through neighborhoods and the like. During the drive, the men quickly found a way to entertain themselves thanks to David.

"Okay, okay. Listen closely," the young man began, "For their anniversary, a King gave his Queen a bottomless container in which to put flesh and blood. What was the container?"

Joe made a face as he looked back at David from over his shoulder, "This isn't a morbid riddle is it?"

"No, it's nothing gross. Guess!"

Sinatra pinched his chin and squinted in thought, "Was it a jar?"

"Do jars have bottoms?" responded David.

"Hmm…" Dominic hummed, "…'bottomless container'…"

"A black hole maybe?" Jake said after starring out the window for a while.

"Oh yeah, that's practical," Dean said from shotgun, "Everybody knows a Queen has to have a black hole lying around the house."

Joe and the other men laughed at this comment and then the van again grew quiet in thought.

"How about a picture frame?" offered Joe as he looked over his shoulder to change lanes, "She could put a picture of her relatives in it. You know, her 'flesh and blood'?"

David smiled, "That's a good guess, but no. Picture frames have bottoms."

"Well what's bottomless?" Sinatra said. "A straw?"

Dominic made a grossed out face, "Who would want to sip flesh and blood through a straw?"

The van broke out in different variations of, "That's disgusting!" and "Ahh, Dominic!"

The victim of these gibes hiked his shoulders innocently, "I was just saying it was unlikely!"

"How about a ring?" came a quiet voice from the back of the van.

All eyes (except Joe's) turned to look at Aaron Fisher, one of the two boys who were the newest additions to the Genovian Palace Security Team. He was young, just barely into his twenties, and had loose, dark brown curls that formed his head of hair. He had only been on the team for about a week. The other men made him feel welcome and tried to get to know him, but he didn't say much unless he had to. All they really knew about him was that he used to live in America but moved to Genovia with his mother when he was young, and he hated being called Aaron so the boys took to calling him Fisher instead.

"It doesn't have a bottom, and if she put it on her finger it would be holding her flesh and blood," Fisher explained.

David smiled and nodded, "Yeah, he's right! That's the answer."

"Well," Dean said quietly over to Joe, "He's good at riddles."

"Sure, now let's hope he can follow orders just as well," Joe said, without taking his eyes off the road.

Dean shook his head lightly at his chief. Joe was often rather gruff with the new men until they had proven to be good at their job. Dean knew that both Fisher and Cobey James would have to step up a level while on this trip to prove themselves to Joe. But that's how it always was. To the Genovian security community it was a well known fact; Aberdeen was the rookie's initiation trial. If you finished below par then you wouldn't be on the force for too long. Dean turned back to the rest of the van while David started another riddle.

"A guy stepped outside during a storm. He didn't take an umbrella, he didn't wear a hat, and he did not stand underneath any type of shelter; yet not one hair on his head got wet. How is this possible?"

"Was he bald?" Joe asked.

"Nope, wasn't bald."

"But you _would_ think of that, wouldn't you?" Dominic joked.

"Uhh, Dom. Need I remind you that it's still not too late for you to _walk_ back to the palace?" Joe answered in a threateningly calm voice.

Dominic gave a nervous laugh, "Just kidding, Sir!"

The men continued to guess one after the other, each of them getting it wrong, until finally Jerry got it right.

"Wait, was it a windstorm? Maybe there wasn't any rain!" he said with a proud smile.

There was a slight pause and then a loud groan of realization that spread across the van.

* * *

When Clarisse rolled over in bed that morning she looked at the clock on her bedside table. The clock read 7:25 a.m. in bright green numbers. Clarisse laid flat on her back and did the calculations in her head. Assuming that they left at six, then they should be well on their way to Libit by now, to make their 8:20 plane for Paris. And from Paris it was a straight flight to Aberdeen. Clarisse sighed, shoved her downy blankets aside, and climbed out of bed. She walked over to her Rose Garden calendar and flipped its page.

"And thus begins June." Then, glaring at the pretty picture of a polyantha, Clarisse added, "You rotten little devil of a month!"

* * *

The flight from Libit to Paris was relatively short and the layover time in the City of Lights was even shorter. Joe had made many visits to Paris in the company of her Majesty over the years, so it was no hardship for him to only see the interior of its airport. But many of his men had never before been in the city and were looking forward to seeing it. When Joe told them that they would only be there for less than an hour, he could see the disappointment on their faces. No sooner had the idea set in than they were boarding the plane to Aberdeen.

Joe ducked his head as he climbed into the cabin of the plane. The seating of the plane was split into two long sections with an isle stretching down the middle. Each section was made up of rows and each row was made up of three seats. Joe turned to his men who were standing behind him, "Okay boys, pick a seat from these first five rows." Joe got out of the way and soon all of his men found their preferred seating. As for Joe, he sat on the first row with Ralph and Dean. Dean had the window seat, Ralph had the middle, and Joe insisted on having the isle seat. It was a habit he had developed from riding on Genovia One with the Royal Family. Joe would sit in the isle seat incase there was an emergency of some kind and he needed to be on his feet quickly. After forty-some-odd-years of doing this, any other seat on the plane would have felt awkward for him.

Other passengers boarded the plane and took their seats. The pilot's voice came over the speakers welcoming the passengers aboard and wishing each of them a peaceful flight. After the brief safety instructions from the plane's crew, the flight was soon underway.

Joseph leaned back in his seat. It was stiff and the tight fabric was coarse and strangely patterned. In comparison to the smooth leather seats of Genovia One, these glorified movie theater chairs were clearly found wanting. But Joseph was hardly one to complain. After all, he was fortunate that the airline let him and his men board ahead of time and get seats so close together. So he hunkered down as best he could into the flotation device beneath him, propped his arm up on the lightly cushioned armrest, and leaned his head against his fist. Joseph only got a few hours of sleep the previous night—due to his incessant thoughts about Clarisse—and hadn't slept at all during the first flight. He could feel the fatigue setting into his body and could just hear his mother's voice saying, "When you give your body lots of rest, that's when Morpheus is at his best." The memory made him smile. His mother was a strong believer in rhyming witticisms. That particular one worked a little too hard for the rhyme, but the message was still there. So, with his mother's importunate reminder still in his head, he was determined to get some rest during this notably longer flight. As he nodded off to sleep, Joseph heard David's voice giving one more riddle.

"You throw away my outside and cook my inside; then you eat my outside and throw away my inside. What am I?"

Joseph didn't have long to contemplate this paradox because he was soon lost in a semi-peaceful slumber.

* * *

"Well Gentlemen," Prime Minister Sebastian Motez said as he stood from his bench, "That will conclude our session for the day. Parliament is adjourned." The crack of his gavel sounded throughout the small room and everyone began to get up from their seats and shuffle out into the hallway. Once most of the men had left the room, Sebastian turned and sighed exasperatedly at his Queen. "Some session, wouldn't you say?"

Clarisse rolled her eyes, "I _would_ say!" She tore off her glasses with frustration and checked to make sure they were alone. The only parliament member left was Lord Tanderfeild and his hearing wasn't good, so Clarisse felt safe to speak freely. "For being of such advanced years, these men are so annoyingly childish sometimes!" She sighed and pinched her forehead lightly, that always seemed to help her calm down. "I swear Sebastian, if it weren't for you, I don't know how I could handle them some days."

The Prime Minister chuckled as he stepped down from his small platform and helped Clarisse off of hers. "Well your Majesty, I can easily say the same for you."

The two Genovian leaders bid each other farewell and went their separate ways. Clarisse turned the first corner of the hallway and saw Charlotte walking toward her. Charlotte must be doing well today; usually Clarisse didn't meet up with her assistant until the hallway's third corner.

"Charlotte, what other appointments do I have for the day?" Clarisse asked as her assistant fell into the rhythm of the easy march.

"You have none, your Majesty. The rest of the day is free."

Clarisse slowed her pace and glanced curiously at her assistant. "None at all?" it was a silly question, Charlotte never got a scheduling wrong, but Clarisse couldn't help but ask.

"No ma'am. Tomorrow you have your luncheon at the Ladies of Genovia Center and then your interview with Relevant magazine, but nothing else is scheduled for today."

"Oh, well, in that case, you're free to have the rest of the day off, Charlotte. And thank you."

Charlotte smiled and bowed her head slightly, "You're always welcome your Majesty. And thank you." The personal aid altered her course and went off to enjoy the rest of the day.

Clarisse looked at her watch, it was only five o'clock. Clarisse couldn't think of the last time she had had an entire evening off! It was exciting and puzzling at the same time. What would she do with all that spare time? Well, for starters, she would go visit with Mia.

Clarisse entered Mia's suite and quietly shut the door behind her. "Amelia?" Clarisse called in a soft voice.

"I'm in here Grandma!"

Clarisse followed the voice into the Princess's closet and smiled when she saw her granddaughter sitting on the floor with two distinctly different shoes on her feet. There was an array of shoes that formed a haphazard perimeter around the girl. Slippers, sandals, high heels, boots; you name it, it was down there!

"Mia, what on earth are you doing?"

Mia started giggling unabashedly when she realized how crazy the situation must look to her grandmother. "I'm sorry, Grandma! I was exploring my closet and I found, like, a _billion_ shoes in here! This is ridiculous how many shoes I have in here!" Mia tugged both shoes until they popped off her feet and then she stood and surveyed her surroundings. "Oh gosh," she said, "I guess I kind of made a mess in here didn't I?"

Clarisse beamed at her Granddaughter. She had grown and matured in so many ways over the past two years, but she still had moments like these where she let her youth shine through. "I wouldn't worry about the mess, dear. It's easily cleaned." Clarisse reached for the phone on a nearby table. She dialed the appropriate number as Mia emerged from the small room. "Yes, Mrs. Cout? Could you be so kind as to send up a few of your ladies to the Princess's bedroom closet for some tidying up? Thank you."

Mia began to protest as Clarisse returned to phone to its hook. "That's not necessary, Grandma. I can clean up my own mess."

"Oh, nonsense, dear," Clarisse waved her hand as if to dismiss the notion. "This is what these ladies are paid to do. And they're good at it too. What would take you hours to accomplish, they can do in a snap!" she said with a peculiar smile.

Mia still seemed hesitant but finally relented, "Okay, if you say so."

Then the two of them walked over to Mia's sitting room and ordered some tea. When Mia found out that her grandmother had the rest of the day off she immediately began thinking of things that they could do. "We're going to make this the best half-day off you've ever had!" she said.

Clarisse gave her granddaughter an apprehensive look, "What does that entail exactly?"

"Well, let's get you out of the house. Get you to do something you've never done before!"

"Oh Mia, let's not leave the palace. I'm still worn out from my Parliament session a while ago. I don't want to be subject to the public and the cameras right now."

"Okay. Well, what's something we can do inside then?"

After some brief discussion, it was discovered that Clarisse had never before painted a painting. And Mia, being the daughter of an artist, was dumbfounded by that concept and said, "Well we'll just have to fix that!"

An hour later a whole set of brushes, paints, canvasses, and easels had been delivered to the palace. Mia helped Clarisse get all set up and then started on her own painting. Clarisse starred at her canvas for a while without moving.

"You okay, Grandma?" Mia asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"I'm just not sure what to paint."

"Just paint whatever you want to. Paint something you love. It doesn't even have to make sense. If you want, it could just be a bunch of random shapes. That's the great thing about art!"

* * *

The flight from Paris to Aberdeen was uneventful. Once they landed Joe rented a fifteen passenger van and the group began the half hour drive to the Aberdeen Elite Security Training Camp, more commonly referred to as the ESTC. After a long break from the game, the van was finally ready to get back to that riddle.

"Wait, wait, wait," Jerry said, quieting the van's frustrated chattering; "You eat the inside and throw away the outside?"

"No," said David, "You through away the outside and cook the inside, then you eat the outside and throw away to inside."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" said Sinatra.

And so it continued, some of the men would make guesses while most just got frustrated and stopped guessing. David eventually stopped having to repeat the riddle because everyone in the van had it memorized. But no one could figure it out and David was stubborn about not revealing the answer. Finally Joe said from the driver's seat, "Gentlemen, we're here." All thoughts of impossible riddles vacated everyone's mind as each man peered out the window to look at the ESTC. There was a good number of men on this trip who had never been to the camp before even though they had been on the Genovian security team for a number of years. So everyone was excited to have finally arrived. Joe found a parking space large enough for the rental van and parked it as close to the main building as he could.

ESTC was like the security capital of the world. Teams from all sorts of security organizations would come from all over the globe to train there. No matter what the field, ESTC had the equipment best suited for any security training field, be it large politically based security teams, or individual celebrity body guard teams, everyone came for the top notch training facilities of ESTC. It was like a summer camp for adults.

They entered the main building and Joseph walked straight up to the registration counter. The chubby, white-haired man behind the desk greeted Joe with a smile. "Joe, my friend!" he said, reaching out his hand, "Has it really been two years?"

"It has, Glenn, "Joe smiled, shaking his friend's hand. "And I'm back with a new batch of boys. Well, almost new. We have a couple returnees."

"Oh, do you now? Well that's for the best you know. Keep the team balanced so the old ones can encourage the new ones! Yep, yep. That's good thinking, Joe! You're a sharp one, like a tack!"

Joe smiled, Glenn was the type of guy who genuinely loved everyone he met. You could be in the middle of the worst day of your life, but sharing a few words with Glenn would put a smile on your face every time, without fail. But if nobody stopped him, he could talk on and on about nothing in particular for hours. Joseph was well aware of this characteristic so he quickly asked, "Where are you putting us, Glenn?"

"Oh well, let's see." He typed away at his little computer and then said, "I don't suppose you have any women in this group?"

"No, all male."

"Alrighty," he typed in a few more details. "Now why do you suppose that is?"

"No woman has ever applied and it's never been requested that I hire one," Joe replied.

"Now that's a shame. They make really good security members. Some of the girlies here are pretty spunky, I can tell you that, Joe! And they come in handy I suppose for all those lady clients who might prefer to have a lady guard lookin' out for them."

Joe laughed, "I suppose that would be more comfortable for some women. Now how about our cabin?"

"Oh, right you are, Joe! Strictly business with you. I like that; it's a good quality to have in a leader. Keeps the young ones in check. That's good, they need leadership. And you're just the guy to give it to them. Straight to business. Right you are, Joe! Right you are" Glenn studied his computer screen before saying, "Cabin 7. How's that sound?"

"Perfect."

The rest of the day was spent getting settled in and giving the team a briefing of what the daily and weekly schedules would look like. Then the men were dismissed for free time. Joe, after claiming his bed and wardrobe, unpacked and then headed outside. He soon met up with some of the other team leaders who he had met before on past trips. At ten o'clock there was a warning announcement over the speakers that there was to be a lights out at ten thirty sharp.

Joe headed back to the cabin and reached into his pocket. He pulled out his cell phone and checked to see if he had reception. He was surprised to see that he had full reception in this cabin. "Good ol' Glenn!" Joe said to himself and made a mental note to request Cabin 7 for future trips. He held the speed dial four button and walked to his bed so that if any of the men came in while he was talking they wouldn't be able to overhear anything.

"Hello?" Clarisse's voice came over the phone.

"Hey there."

He could practically hear the smile cross her face, "'Hey' yourself. How was the trip?"

He sighed and arched his back to get the last of the kinks out, "Long, but good. Dave kept everyone entertained with riddles for a good portion of the trip, but near the end everyone started to get a little irritable. But now we're here and we're all settled in. They're all out getting a feel for the grounds now."

"Did you get any sleep on the plane?"

"Some, yeah. So what are you up to?"

"Oh, just getting ready for bed, combing my hair at the moment."

Joseph closed his eyes as he tried to picture her in her soft pink robe, sitting at her makeup counter, silently counting the strokes she makes through her golden blonde hair. He smiled at the image.

"You're beautiful," he said softly.

She scoffed, "If you could only see me now! I have no makeup on, my pajamas are wrinkled, my fingers are stained and my hair _was_ in utter disarray!" she said with a chuckle.

"Wait, your fingers are stained? Why?"

When she spoke again her voice had a distinct hint of esteem in it. "You would be proud of me, Joseph. I did something I've never done before. I painted a picture."

Joseph grinned and nodded approvingly, "Did you now? What of?"

"Umm, well…" She gave a slight chuckle before saying, "It started out as a flower, but then it sort of turned into a sun. But I didn't like it as a sun. So I changed it to a rug."

Joseph laughed hard at this and then calmed down to say, "You're right, I am proud of you. Do you think you'll keep painting?"

"I think so, it was fun. Mia painted one too. Hers turned out a lot better than mine though. It was a picture of a tree with a little tire swing tied to it. It was cute. You know Joseph, I think she's really gifted at art. I'm sure she could sell some of her work if she wanted to."

"She probably gets it from her mother."

"Yes, well, I don't think she gets it from me," she said with a chuckle, "but it was fun."

The door to the cabin opened and the team flooded into the long room, laughing and carrying on previous conversations.

"Well dear," Joseph said, lowing his voice, "the guys just came in."

"Noisy bunch, aren't they?"

He smirked, "They're just excited, that's all. Anyway, I'm going to head off to bed, but I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Joseph?"

There was a pause and he waited silently for her to finish.

"I miss you," she said in a timid voice.

He smiled sadly, "Miss you too, Sweetheart. Sleep well."

"You too. Goodnight, and be safe."

"Yes, ma'am." He reluctantly hung up and then went about his nightly routine.

Soon the whole team was prepared for bed and the lights were turned off. A few brief minutes of silence went by, but no one fell asleep right away. Everyone was too excited about the first day of training that they couldn't let their minds settle down enough for sleep. So they let their minds wander to other things.

Then, suddenly, something occurred to Joe and he sat up in bed. "Hey, Dave?" he whispered into the pitch-black room.

From some bed on the other side of the room came the quiet voice, "Yeah?"

"Is it an ear of corn?"

"Yes!" he whispered back, trying to keep his laughter quiet.

There was a slight pause, and then the whole room erupted in a quiet wave of realizations with different variations of "Ooooh" and "Okay, that _does_ make sense."

* * *

Ok guys, that was a very long chapter that hopefully made up for the very long wait. Please let me know what you thought of it.

**Author's Note:** For those of you who didn't look it up, the person Joseph's mom references in her rhyme is Morpheus, the Roman god of dreams.

**Another Author's Note: **I made a reference to another well known Julie Andrews movie in this chapter. Ten points to whoever can tell me where and what movie!


	4. Training begins

**Author's Note:** Okay, I am terribly sorry for the extremely long wait! There were some problems with my internet connection for a bit which was right in the middle of some extensive writer's block. So the chapter you're about to read is fairly short, for which I apologies. I also apologies for the fact that, as short as it may be, this chapter will have to last you a while because I'm going out of town for a week and won't be near a computer. But even though this chapter is pretty short, I wanted to post it because you wonderful readers have been waiting SO patiently on me I hated to make you wait any longer. So here it is!

Deep breath in...deep breath out...here we go!

* * *

The lights in Cabin 7 flashed on and off. "Wake up you sleepy heads!" shouted Joe as he continued to flip the switch up and down, "We're getting an early start today!"

The men replied to this unwanted morning greeting by letting out a few moans and shoving their faces deeper into their pillows. Joe grinned and chuckled lightly to himself. He went to plan B and started walking down the row of beds, slapping exposed, bare feet as he went. "Come on, get up!" he said as he gave two swift pats to Dean's bare chest.

Dean breathed in deeply as he sat straight up in bed, "Okay! I'm up, I'm up," he said, blinking hard and shaking his head.

Joe continued to pass bed after bed, shaking shoulders, ripping off blankets and flicking earlobes. Eventually, everyone started to show signs of consciousness and the men sleepily began to roll out of bed. "I want everyone up and ready to leave in ten minutes!" Joe ordered as he walked over to his bed and grabbed his shoulder holster. He fastened the holster and placed his CZ 75B securely inside, making sure that the safety strap was buttoned into position, he didn't want his firearm jumping out of its holster while he was running. He popped a stick of Stride gum into his mouth and then turned to face the rest of the room. The men were up and hastily getting dressed. Joe noticed a lump still in one of the beds near the other end of the room. He glared at the lump and slowly started walking towards it. He heard some of the first-timers frantically asking questions to the older, more experienced men as he passed by.

"What are we doing? How should I dress?" Fisher whispered over his shoulder as he looked through his shirts.

But he received no answer; none of the men were listening to him. Everyone had stopped their movements when they saw the look on Joe's face as he practically stalked their still sleeping comrade.

Joe reached his destination and just stood there, looming over the bed with that same glare in his eye. The poor unknowing sleeper beneath him continued to rest peacefully with soft, even breaths. Without breaking the gaze, Joe turned his head and asked, "Who is he?"

None of the men wanted to be the one to respond, but no one wanted to make their chief wait for an answer either.

"It's Cobey, sir," said Ralph, after a sizable gulp, "Cobey James. He's one of the Rookies."

"Gentlemen," Joe began, turning to face the rest of his men. He was immediately amused by their scared expressions, but of course, revealed no such notion on his face. Instead, he kept his stern expression and continued, "I believe that Mr. James here misunderstood my order. Would you be so kind as to rephrase it for him?" Joe stepped back from the bed.

Sinatra, Dean, Ralph, Nathan, and Jerry all shared a knowing glance before closing in on Cobey James, who was still out cold. The five experienced men stood together to form a half circle around the bed. Nathan held out his fingers and silently counted to three. As soon as his third finger went up, all five men leaned in and shouted at the top of their lungs. The thundering noise was so unexpected that all of the other men noticeably jumped when they heard it. Joe just stood calmly off to the side with his hands clasped in front of him.

Cobey leaped from his lying position like a cat with its tail in a light socket. His breathing was sporadic as he quickly glanced this way and that. He sat upright and slung his feet over the edge of the bed.

"Boy, you better start listening when the boss gives an order!" Sinatra said with a light shove to Cobey's shoulder.

"That's right," said Dean, "He said to be up and ready in ten minutes. And you aint up, _or_ ready!"

"H-he did?" asked a still startled, but at least coherent Cobey James.

"Yeah, I did," Joe said as the half circle parted and he slowly stepped through.

Cobey gulped as he saw his new chief bend over so he was eyelevel with the Rookie. "Dean's right," Joe said in a low voice, "You'd better improve that hearing of yours. Because I don't like repeating myself." He let that thought sink far into the young man's memory before continuing in a louder voice, while still keeping the eye contact, "Gentlemen, when I give an order, what is the response I receive?"

All of the men except Fisher and Cobey replied, "Yes, sir! Right away, sir!"

Joe straightened and practically growled, "So get up."

Cobey nodded quickly, "Yes, sir. Right away, sir," and slung his blanket to the side.

Joe turned around and started to leave the room. "Five minutes, Gentlemen!" and as he passed Fisher he said, "Wear something you can get sweaty and dirty in." As he walked out the door, no one saw the small smile spread across his face.

* * *

Joe was careful with his foot placement as he hiked up the steep terrain. It had rained the night before so the dirt was moist and his foot sunk into it slightly with each step. He tried to step where there were thicker patches of grass so as to keep from slipping, and he used nearby trees as leverage as he passed if he was able.

Joe breathed deeply as he marched up the heavily wooded mountain side. The rain which the previous night had provided seemed to make every plant in the wood appear greener, and the air itself seemed to feel crisper and more refreshing. The early morning sun was still slightly orange, and its light cast interesting shapes on the ground as it shown through the leaves and limbs of the tall trees.

In fact, the only thing that failed to add to the majesty and beauty of this mountain was the sight of Joseph and his long line of men: sweaty, muddy and panting as they trekked up its side. They had already been on this peregrination for an hour at least. Of course, Joe was no tyrant and allowed for periodical rests for breath and water. But the workout was extremely testing and even Joe was beginning to feel the strain.

Joe looked at his watch. If his estimations were accurate, they should be reaching their destination shortly. He glanced over his shoulder to see who was directly behind him, "Nathan."

The young man increased his speed to come to his chief's side. "Yes, sir?" he responded.

"What's the highest number of chin-ups you've ever done in a row?"

"I think about forty-five, Sir."

"Gentlemen!" Joe raised his voice so he could be heard in the way back. "Which of you has done more than forty-five chin-ups in a single session?"

"I have, sir!" shouted Sinatra from the back of the line.

"How many?"

"Sixty, sir!"

"Anyone done more than that?"

There was a short silence until Nathan responded, "I don't think so, sir."

"Sixty," Joe said quietly to himself, "Okay."

Half an hour ticked by before the group of men came to a place where the incline became even steeper and the terrain became rockier. They had left the dirt ground behind them some time ago and were now having to find decent footing amongst large stones and boulders. The slope was at least at a forty-five degree angle and Joe and the rest of the men found themselves needing to bend over and use their hands to scale it in certain areas. This process was a lot slower going; and the fatigue the men were feeling did nothing but retard the journey further.

Finally, a few minutes later, they reached their destination. About halfway up the mountain, there was a place where the terrain evened out to form almost a type of field. The rocks became fewer and grass sprouted around and in between them. The trees also lessened except for a small patch of about five or six near the center of the clearing. And it was at this field-like clearing that Joe and his men sojourned.

Joe pointed to some large boulders and said, "Have a seat, rest some."

The men gladly obeyed and soon whipped out their water bottles to slake their ever growing thirsts. Joe also retrieved his water bottle and began to drink, but he didn't sit down right away. He walked over to examine the trees a few yards away from his men. One of the trees seemed extremely old and had begun to rot away, but there were still a few healthy trees. Among these, there was a large tree with outstanding limbs that hung low and stretched outward before reaching up towards the sky. Joe reached up and measured the diameter of one of the branches with his hand. He nodded thoughtfully to himself before turning and rejoining his men.

Joe allowed them to sit and talk for awhile while they rested and kept hydrated. Then he stood up and said, "Alright, come on."

The men got up and followed him to the large tree. Joe turned around to face Sinatra, "You said sixty was the most you've done?"

"Yes, sir," Sinatra replied after a short pause. It took him a little while to connect Joe's question with the conversation they had had almost an hour earlier.

"Okay," Joe said. He turned and gestured toward the limbs over his head, "Grab a branch, everyone. We're going to do seventy-five."

There was some grumbling and a few quiet complaints about being exhausted, but Joe shot a look at some of the complainers and everyone silently looked for a good branch. "You boys should be happy. Seventy-five isn't even that difficult," Joe said as he reached up to grab the branch he had measured earlier.

"Then what _would_ be hard for you?" Fisher asked, his voice displaying his incertitude.

Jake shoved Fisher's shoulder and whispered harshly, "Shut up! If you ask him that, he'll make us do it!"

"I'm not afraid. The guy's a hundred!" came Fishers hushed response.

Joe, hearing the quiet colloquy behind him, made note of Fisher's evident skepticism. _'I'll have to keep an eye on that one,'_ he noted silently before saying aloud to the group, "Let's begin gentlemen!"

* * *

Okay, so there you have it. Please leave a review if you liked it (actually...please leave a review even if you DIDN'T like it!)

:oP

--Monker


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